Latest Technology News

Natalia Manzocco, QMI Agency

Oct 11, 2012

, Last Updated: 6:05 PM ET

I'm sure I'm not the only one who got up close and personal with a raw turkey last weekend. And even though our holiday dinner went off without a hitch (a Thanksgiving miracle!), I found myself wishing for a little extra help -- a way to switch my iPad on to check a recipe without getting splashes or crumbs on my tablet or a hands-free way to wash up. Stock up your kitchen with a few handy gadgets and when the holidays roll around, your next turkey will be more Martha Stewart, less National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

The timer isn't the kitchen essential it once was -- after all, you probably have a basic timer built into something else (smartphone, microwave, stovetop). But there's still plenty of whimsical timers on the market that add an element of fun to your kitchen -- or, in the case of this safe-dial timer by Kikkerland, an element of danger. It's magnetic, so it will fit plenty of spots in your kitchen. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it won't keep you out of your fridge if you're feeling the urge for a midnight snack. It's $11.99 at Thinkgeek.com.

A meat thermometer is indispensable for big kitchen projects. This model has a handy voice alert function, so you can hear when it's time to take your dish out of the oven. Equally handy – its countdown feature will keep recalculating cooking time based on the temperature, giving you an accurate reading of how much more time your dish needs. If your culinary masterpieces require high heat, beware: This thermometer seems best suited for lower temperatures. It's $57.94 at Williams-Sonoma and williams-sonoma.com.

Raw poultry comes with its own set of contamination concerns. If you spent time last weekend trying to operate a soap pump and a faucet with your wrists and elbows in order to wash your turkey-coated hands, you may benefit from a motion-operated soap dispenser this holiday season. Final Touch's sleek red soap machine will dispense an adjustable amount of liquid soap with the wave of a hand. It takes AA batteries and will look sharp in any kitchen. Find it at $34.99 at bestbuy.ca.

Tablets are endlessly handy to have in the kitchen when it comes to referring to recipes or looking for tips on how to prepare that elaborate dish. Of course, nobody likes tracking flour, sauce and lord knows what else onto their gadgets. Enter Belkin's Chef Stand, which keeps your tablet propped up at two convenient reading angles on a non-slip rubber base. But the real boon here is the attached stylus, which is easy for slippery hands to grab and ensures your tablet and whatever is on the stove never need to cross paths. It's $39.99 at belkin.com.

There's not much heavy-duty engineering involved in this gadget, but its ingenuity earns it a seat at the table. Quirky's Stem lets you convert any citrus fruit into a spray bottle full of juice. You can mete out the amount of juice, adding just a touch of evenly distributed citrus flavour if that's what your recipe calls for. But users say they've also been able to suck a fruit dry of juice — without a single wrist-twisting reamer or messy power juicer in sight. It's $4.99 at Quirky.com